Avian flu in German zoo swan

An Australian black swan tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza at
a German zoo yesterday, in the country's first sign of the virus in three
months.

The swan was found dead at the Dresden Zoo in eastern Germany on Aug 1. After
the bird tested positive for H5N1 avian
influenza, the zoo quarantined other animals and sought government
permission to vaccinate the zoo's collection of 720 birds of 112 species.

Zoo staff say the virus may have entered the zoo last winter when wild birds
visited the zoo's ponds.

Germany's last outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu were in February among wild birds
and in April in farm poultry.